The book starts with Anuradha Daaz and her master Vádhan of the Emperor's Spears sitting within the Spear's fortress. The events of the book are far in the past. The Spears of the Emperor fight against the forces of the Exilarchy, but the situation is worse every day. They haven't yet threatened Nemeton, the Spears' homeworld, but it seems inevitable. High King Arucatas the Swordbearer - Arucatas of the Kavalei Tribe is the High King of Nemeton (essentially its Planetary Governor) and the Chapter Master of the Emperor's Spears Chapter. To her fear and fury Kartash is also alive and denies her whole story. Since she's taken actual brain trauma no one believes her.

The fact that it flowed relatively well and that there was quite a bit of interesting points throughout helped this score a two instead of a one. And I never thought I'd not enjoy an Aaron Dembski Bowden Warhammer novel. But then, everyone else seems to love this book, so perhaps I am just the incredibly one one out. That's reading tastes for you. ToW: What were your main influences when writing it? Did you do a lot of research to help you plan or write it? Sergeant Faelan (KIA) - Faelan of the Kavalei Tribe was a battleguard of the Emperor's Spears' 3rd Warhost. Faelan lost much of his face in battle and then had much of his head replaced by cybernetic prostheses. He was killed by a child Renegade psyker of the Exilarchy when the Chaos Space Marines of The Pure boarded the strike cruiser Hex. His gene-seed and Astartes organs were later used in the process to turn Vadhán into a Primaris Marine. War Against the Exilarchy (999.M41 - Present) - The birth of the Great Rift cut off the region of Elara's Veil from the wider Imperium, trapping it within the darkness of the Imperium Nihilus. At that time, a great Chaos warhost known as the Exilarchy came into being, comprised mainly of humans and mutants, but supported by a small number of Heretic Astartes warbands. The true rulers of the Exilarchy were the Chaos Space Marines known as The Pure, the remnants of the Star Scorpions Chapter, who had been declared lost in the Warp. The Pure used the rest of the Exilarchy forces as foot soldiers to further their cause. In the aftermath of the Great Rift's creation, The Pure and the Exilarchy were expelled from their travels through the Warp into Elara's Veil. The worlds of the Veil were part of the Emperor's demesne, but The Pure sought to conquer them and reclaim the region they had once helped to defend in the name of the Dark Gods. This brought them into conflict with their former allies the Emperor's Spears and Celestial Lions Chapters, who were charged with protecting the worlds of Elara's Veil. Due to the sheer numbers of the Exilarchy war host, eventually half of the worlds of Elara's Veil fell to The Pure's control. The Emperor's Spears, the Celestial Lions and rest of the Adeptus Vaelarii waged a slowly losing campaign against the forces of the Exilarchy. After over a Terran century of warfare, there was no longer any doubt that the Exilarchy and its Heretic Astartes masters had the upper hand.Battle of Sythaur (Unknown Date.M41) - It was during this campaign that Sergeant Faelan of the Kavalei tribe, a future hero of the 3rd Warhost, received a grievous wound that disfigured his face.

The Emperor's Spears primarily wear sky blue Power Armour and a white helm. This Chapter does not display company numbers on its Power Armour, and it does not paint the trim of its shoulder plates to designate company. Squads are marked with Nemetese runes or Roman numerals on the shoulder pauldrons or greaves. Warriors of the Emperor's Spears' Veteran 1st Company, "the Paragons," have the trident marking on their helms and white shoulder pauldrons, while maintaining the standard sky blue trim. A lot of Paragons also have the trident symbol tattooed on their faces, in red or white ink. Officers from all companies may choose to paint one or both shoulder pauldrons white. They're interrupted by the appearance of a new ship bearing down on them - the Blade of the Seventh Son, a Celestial Lions ship! She fully expects to die in the oncoming ram, and all things considered is fine with this. She laughs as the end comes. The Emperor's Spears are believed to have come from the 25th Founding, also known as the Bastion Founding, in the latter half of M40. The first known appearance of the Chapter was in 594.M40, making them relatively young by the standards of Space Marine Chapters. [5]

Playing Emperor’s Spears

Spear' is a tale that refuses to go the easy way. That plays into all of the strengths of it's author's previous works about humans and Space Marines in the 41st millenium and teases well-trodden, pleasing roads of story, just to pull the rug out under you and engage with the raw, emotional reality of the situations that humans have to face in those circumstances. If it's a story about victory, it's one about those most personal victories that are so much more common, but that much harder to achieve than furious triumphs in battles for the fate of humanity: those that are won in a war not for the soul of mankind, but for one's own. It is a novel about slavery and freedom, about loss and sorrow, about trauma and recovery, and, most of all, about change. I cried three times while reading it, two of those times in the same chapter. The plot of the story starts with Anuradha accompanying Amadeus to the homeworld of the Emperors Spears, Nemeton along with two of her fellow slaves; which is where we’re treated to rich descriptions of the Space Marines homeworld and culture, it also sets the tone for the rest of the novel. Along the way, the plot develops into a much richer story-arc which leaves the reader guessing as to what the expert use of foreshadowing is all about. This novel doesn’t miss a beat and the once the pace it set it doesn’t let up, you’re in for a fast ride; without the book becoming all-out war, which was another stroke of brilliance for Aaron Dembski-Bowden; too many Warhammer books turn out to be ‘just another war story’ which fits the bill for the setting, but it’s wonderfully refreshing to read something a bit different to the usual 40k offerings. Amadeus is the perfect contrast to the personable Space Marines of the Emperors Spears and he helps to carry the story in his own right; the story is as much his as it is the Spears and Anuradha's and it is through his development that the plot progresses, I get the feeling that he is the Marmite of the story though, for the reader, you’ll either love or hate him. The homeworld of the Emperor's Spears is the Ocean World of Nemeton. Its landmasses are small and mountainous, and heavily forested. There are several equatorial landmasses that are largely marshy jungle. Due to the temperate weather, rainfall is constant across most of the surface. The scattered worlds of the Elara's Veil nebula were once protected by the oath of unity sworn by three mighty Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. The Star Scorpions were undone by flaws in their genetic coding. The Celestial Lions were ravaged by the Inquisition for sins they did not commit. Now, after hundreds of years, only the Emperor's Spears still keep their vigil. They are barbarian watchmen against the Outer Dark, bloodied but unbroken in their long duty.